Song InfoComposed on September 26, 2006Recorded starting on April 13, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PAProduced by Ric AlbanoEngineered by Bret AlexanderMixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave StudiosOriginal Release: December 27, 2007
on Imaginary Lines IIThis Release: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Analysis: Almost the reciprical of the deep and emotional 33 Flames for Mary, this ia an upbeat, fun and frivolous song. It is one the few to feature a piano lead by Ric Albano, which trades riffs with the fantastic guitar work of Erik Trabert.

Song TriviaThis song was originally a pure instrumental titled “I Kicked a Dog”.

Please offer your own analysis of 33 Shots at Louis by leaving a comment in the box below.

LyricsWanton and wayward, you slipped off your sly boots
Threw the left one through the shower glass, used the right to kick the truth
And started to sob and weakly tried to explain where you had been
Where have you been?

Off the cusp of the road beneath the solitary pine
On the solitary hillside, logging “solitary” time
You assured me that this was just a phase, for you were still young
And you sure were fun

We drifted together into this new grown-up world
I’d play the cool, grown-up guy, you’d play the lewd, grown-up girl
Not that your unchaste demeanor would be the worst thing that you’d ever do
Though that you’d do!

It was your devoted eminence of those derogatory “friends”
With their derogatory means towards derogatory ends
And your near-quantum failure to ever grasp just where I was coming from
But you sure were fun

It’s the biggest blast, wooded beer barrel bash in at least five years
And you declare that you got to be there
Despite your legal age, these are neo teenage peers
But you can’t see that you’re just a washed-up fool
Some amusement, not the party legend you think
So you proceed with this inane masquerade
And wash away your soul with every arduous drink

With every arduous drink, you’ve left no margin to think
As you slowly inch to the brink
The brink, it’s buffer is starting to shrink
It’s incense is starting to stink
And you really need to get out – Get out!

You launch some deaf appeals that you’ve got no wheels
And you really feel the need to steal some

Drunk and diluted you lifted some keys
Purged yourself of some fluids, groped your way through the trees
And climbed in that pickup for one final, truncated joy ride
Enjoy the ride!

Soon you flew off the road towards some stationary rocks
Impending your future is stationary in a box
Had you ever conceived of such atonement for the way your life was run?
But you sure were fun, yeah, you sure were fun

Song InfoComposed on December 19, 2005Recorded starting on April 13, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PAProduced by Ric AlbanoEngineered by Bret AlexanderMixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave StudiosOriginal Release: December 27, 2007
on Imaginary Lines IIThis Release: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Analysis: This is a unique, bluesy song with a fine hook and an intresting deviation during the middle bridge section. Some of the guitar sound is less-than-par as noise was a factor and much editing was needed to remedy.

Song Trivia“You Sure Wer Fun” was the most difficult song to record of any on Imaginary Lines 33 as it was done in three seperate, distinct sections with special cues and timings laborously worked out between Ric Albano and Ron Simasek.

Please offer your own analysis of You Sure Were Fun by leaving a comment in the box below.

LyricsJR felt the tremble deep in his bones
He had become the last man to walk alone
He made the choice, the bridge would burn
A one-way jaunt with no return
He’d learn that he could never go home again

RJ watched it all from on up high
From beyond the great beyond that lines the sky
No spoken voice was granted him
A broken choice all results grim
But he’d try to set the table of life again

The ferment continued until the end of time
For some it seemed vulgar but for many it was simply sublime
RJ back to his drawing board
JR toward his prison ward
In time they’d end up in the same camp again

But he won’t ever get there again
Not to see the stalagmite citizens
Nor the crude, fair-weathered friends
He won’t ever get there again

And he will never see there again
Never perform the vapid rituals
Nor die the slow death from the bends
He will never see there again

Song InfoComposed on February 28, 2006Recorded starting on April 13, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PAProduced by Ric AlbanoEngineered by Bret AlexanderMixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave StudiosOriginal Release: December 27, 2007
on Imaginary Lines IIThis Release: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Analysis: A nice, blue-grass-esque tribute to Johnny Cash which builds layer upon layer with synth work from Ric Albano.

Song TriviaThe unique percussion sound by Ron Simasek was achieved by turning over the snare drum and playing by hand.The song’s message was unfortunately undermined a bit by the movie spoof Walk Tall, released the same Christmas as Imaginary Lines II.

Please offer your own analysis of The Last Man to Walk Alone by leaving a comment in the box below.

LyricsDon’t break your head trying to think up clever things that need be said
Just keep doing what you do
Don’t break a leg trying to clear up everything so nothing is vague
Just keep doing what you do

With you there’s proof of an infinite sun
With you there’s truth of an apothegmatic One

Don’t waste your time scouting landscapes to find higher hills to climb
Just keep doing what you do
And don’t lose your mind trying to make amends for those sins
That aren’t assigned to your soul

With you there’s proof of an infinite code
With you there is truth that can never grow old

Take a look around and appreciate all the wonders abound
And keep doing what you do

With you there’s the truth of the proverbial life
With you there’s proof of a terminated strife

Song InfoComposed on March 10, 2006Recorded starting on April 13, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PAProduced by Ric AlbanoEngineered by Bret AlexanderMixed and Mastered in 2007
at Cygnus Wave StudiosOriginal Release: December 27, 2007
on Imaginary Lines II

PerformersRic Albano
Piano, Keyboards, Bass, VocalsRon Simasek
Drums

Listener GuideGrade

Analysis: The rare, straight-forward, love song in the Imaginary Lines collection.

Song TriviaThis song was originally intended to be the last section of a four part, 16 minute “Ocean Suite”, following “He Was the Ocean” (later renamed “The Old Man In the Sea”), “Twilight of Innocence”, and “Dawning of Decadence”. This song was the only part completed in time for Imaginary Lines II.

Please offer your own analysis of Keep Doing What You Do by leaving a comment in the box below.

LyricsShe says “I wonder if you’ll ever learn”
She says “A movement’s 6 stages while the 7th brings return”
She said “I know what it is like to be dead”
It’s all in the way that she says it
The subtle semantics may be revealed in the summertime

She says “Behind the beauty cracks appear”
She said “The future is uncertain and the end is always near”
She says “Keep them mower blades sharp”
It’s all in the phrasing she uses, the simpleton gets confused –

By her tones, by her freshly tossed bones
She at once seems perfectly content while she concocts a new argument
About war – man, she really hates war
But then she’s never had to fight for anything, no, she’s never had to fight
She never had to want for anything, never had an unconsummated delight

She says “Think as it was and then again it will be”
She says “Go sing your heart out to the infinite sea”
She says “I may make you feel but I can’t make you think”
It’s all in the way that you convey it
Was the promise of her ever real in the summertime?

Song InfoComposed on May 31, 2006Recorded starting on April 13, 2007
at Saturation Acres, Danville, PAProduced by Ric AlbanoEngineered by Bret AlexanderMixed and Mastered in 2009
at Cygnus Wave StudiosOriginal Release: December 27, 2007
on Imaginary Lines IIThis Release: September 9, 2009
on Imaginary Lines 33

Analysis: This is the best example of what was trying to be accomplished with Imaginary Lines II – a very simple song with a simple arrangement and structure, built on a rather complex piano pattern. This version suffers from slight timing issues and an acoustic too high in the mix, but that all dissipates under the excellent, moody guitar solo and building strings in the last verse./.span>

Song Triviathe lyrics of “She Said” were intentionally meant to be a riddle, with each of the nine quotes (three in each of the three verses) being directly lifted from songs by nine different artists – eight by established, classic rock acts and one from Ric Albano’s previous life in Wahray and Soul. Can you identify the source of these quotes?

Please offer your own analysis of She Said by leaving a comment in the box below.